The Palestine Chronology

Overnight, the IDF sends 25 heavy vehicles, 2 helicopters into Tulkarm city and r.c., nearby Far‘un village; imposes curfews on the areas, seizes a building in central Far‘un as an IDF post, fires on stone-throwing youths who confront the incursion, wounding 4 (ages 9–18). The IDF alsofires on residential areas s. and n. of Rafah; shoots, wounds a farmer working his field nr. Khan Yunis; shoots, wounds a mentally handicapped Palestinian nr. Dayr al-Balah who fails to follow orders to halt; fires on stonethrowing youths nr. Jenin, wounding 2; lifts the curfew on Hebron imposed on 11/1. A 16-yr.-old AMB suicide bomber detonates a device in the West Bank village of Azun as IDF soldiers move in to capture him, wounding 1 soldier. Palestinian Tariq Hussein, wanted in the shooting death of an Israeli girl, turns himself in tothe IDF at a Qalqilya roadblock. The IDF confirms that Jewish settlers fr. Yitzhar settlement, the unauthorized outpost of Mitzpe Yitzhar are suspected of having felled some 500 Palestinian olive trees in ‘Ayn Abus (s. of Nablus) in the past wk., while Palestinians have been under curfew. (JP 11/3; VOP 11/3 in WNC 11/5; MM, NYT 11/4; NYT, PCHR 11/6)

In a 7-hr. operation, the IDF evacuates the 1st inhabited unauthorized settlement outpost, Mitzpe Yitzhar, a particularly militant outpost nr. Nablus, housing 2 settler families: An initial contingent of around 25 unarmed soldiers attempting to remove 2 tents, a few tin shacks, and 1 concrete block building is obstructed by around 100 Jewish settler youths. The IDF calls in unarmed reinforcements, places closures on surrounding settlements, as 100s of settlers converge on the outpost during the day, scuffling with troops, leaving 30 settlers and soldiers injured; settlers also set fire to Palestinian wheat fields, olive groves in the area in an attempt to disrupt the IDF operation. The IDF also bulldozes 15 dunams of land in Bayt Hanun, 5 dunams in Bayt Lahia, 1 dunam in al-Mughraqa. An Islamic Jihad suicide bomber detonates a device inside a small store in Baysan, inside Israel, killing 1 Israeli. Palestinians fire a Qassam rocket at Sederot, causing no damage or injuries. (HA, MM 6/19; VOI, YA 6/19 in WNC 6/21; MM, NYT, WP, WT 6/20; MM 5/23; PR 6/25; MM, PCHR 6/26; MEI 6/27; MA 6/11 in WNC 6/13)